Hearing devices are wearable hearing apparatuses which are used to assist the hard-of-hearing. In order to accommodate numerous individual requirements, various types of hearing devices are available such as behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing devices, hearing device with an external receiver (RIC: receiver in the canal) and in-the-ear (ITE) hearing devices, for example also concha hearing devices or completely-in-the-canal (ITE, CIC) hearing devices. The hearing devices listed as examples are worn on the outer ear or in the auditory canal. Bone conduction hearing aids, implantable or vibrotactile hearing aids are also available on the market. The damaged hearing is thus stimulated either mechanically or electrically.
The key components of hearing devices are principally an input converter, an amplifier and an output converter. The input converter is normally a receiving transducer e.g. a microphone and/or an electromagnetic receiver, e.g. an induction coil. The output converter is most frequently realized as an electroacoustic converter e.g. a miniature loudspeaker, or as an electromechanical converter e.g. a bone conduction hearing aid. The amplifier is usually integrated into a signal processing unit. This basic configuration is illustrated in FIG. 1 using the example of a behind-the-ear hearing device. One or a plurality of microphones 2 for recording ambient sound are built into a hearing device housing 1 to be worn behind the ear. A signal processing unit 3 which is also integrated into the hearing device housing 1 processes and amplifies the microphone signals. The output signal for the signal processing unit 3 is transmitted to a loudspeaker or receiver 4, which outputs an acoustic signal. Sound is transmitted through a sound tube, which is affixed in the auditory canal by means of an otoplastic, to the device wearer's eardrum. Power for the hearing device and in particular for the signal processing unit 3 is supplied by means of a battery 5 which is also integrated in the hearing device housing 1.
The publication US 2002/0111745 A1 discloses a wearable hearing analysis system. Parameters of a hearing response can be obtained here by means of audiometers. A response prediction is used to perform a basic setting of a hearing device.
The publication EP 0 661 905 A2 also describes a method for adjusting a hearing device and a corresponding hearing device. A psychoacoustic variable, in particular the loudness, is obtained using a perceptive model on the one hand for a standard group of people and on the other hand for a single individual. Control details are determined on the basis of the difference of the two psychoacoustic variables, whereby the signal transmission to a hearing device is configured or set ex situ and/or is conveyed in situ.
The publication EP 1 676 529 A1 also describes a method for visualizing the hearing ability and/or hearing sensitivity. Here at least one hearing dimension, like for instance the loudness perception, is made visible by means of an image by changing at least one image parameter, like for instance the brightness. A loudness curve obtained on the basis of audiometric measurements is used to control the brightness distribution in an image. If necessary, several loudness curves are also determined in different frequency ranges and the coloring of an image is thus controlled. The visual assistance significantly simplifies the acoustician's task of finding an optimum setting.